


Goodnight doctor.

by NoodleDK



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Doctor - Freeform, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Songs, Swearing, Testing - Freeform, Torture, lyrics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-07 03:08:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5441210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoodleDK/pseuds/NoodleDK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans and Papyrus is the test subjects of the royal scientist W. D. Gaster. Destiny seems cruel to the skeleton brothers, but things begin to change when a human shows up on the doorstep of the lab.<br/>Contain spoilers for both the game, secret material and fan theories. This story is inspired by this fanart series: http://zarla.deviantart.com/art/Best-not-to-look-into-it-575682313</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Goodmorning doctor!

W. D. Gaster, the royal scientist really wished at this moment that he had ears. Just so he could fill them with cotton balls to keep this noise out. It not like that he wasn’t used to the sound by now, but it was getting tiring. He could maybe just give the screaming person some anesthetic, but that would always be such a hassle. There was no need and it could interfere with the test result.

Finally, the skeleton calmed down. Either because the pain had faded or because he had no more strength to scream. Either way, it was finally quiet. 

“Subject 2, how are you feeling?” The doctor asked in a formal tone.

It took several moments before the huffing and puffing skeleton answered. He’s strapped down limbs shook of exhaustion as he slowly opened his jaw to speak. 

“I… I’m in pain. It hurts.. it hurts.” He spoke with a fragile voice on the brim of crying.  
“Please… no more..” He pleaded as tears streaked down the sides of his skull. 

The doctor looked at a screen on the machine that the skeleton was hooked up to and wrote down some data on a clipboard. He nodded satisfied to himself and finally directed his attention to the test subject. 

“We’re done anyway.” He said as he pulled off his rubber gloves and began unstrapping the young one, which smiled with relief. 

\--------------

The cell was mostly bare. Two simple beds, a long table by the wall with chairs and an empty closet was the only furniture that the test subjects had. A small bathroom Right now a small skeleton sat and waited with dread on the arrival of his brother. He sat on the floor by the wall and played with his rubik's cube. His only source of entertainment with the exception of his brother. He had solved it for the third time the last five minutes and he was already bored. Still, he prepared it for another round, when he heard the faint sound of wheels down the hall and instantly got chills down his spine. He dropped the toy and rose from his spot, as his brother and the doctor came into vision. His brother was slumped in a wheelchair, which the doctor casually pushed towards the cell. 

The young skeleton suppressed the urge to run over to the force field and grab his brother as soon as he could. The doctor would just become angry. And nobody wanted that.  
He just stood there and waited while looking down at the floor. It only took the doctor a couple of seconds to place his brother in his bed and slowly making his way out of the room, but it felt like ages for the small skeleton. When the force field was up, he rushed to his brother’s side. 

“Pap? Papyrus? Are you okay, bro?” He asked quietly.

The taller skeleton slowly opened his eyes and focused his vision on his brother. A weak smile crept to his nonexistent lips as he reached for his brother's face and caressed his cheekbone. 

“I’m fine.. don’t worry about me, Sans. It was just the usual.” He said and let his hand fall to his lap.  
Sans couldn’t help but feel bad for his brother. Sure, this was what happened almost every day. For both of them.  
The doctor comes. He takes them. He hurts them, He bring them back. They sleep. Repeat.  
Still, they couldn’t accept this treatment. 

Sans sat on the side of his brother’s bed and patiently waited for his brother to feel better. He took his brother's hand and rubbed it gently. His finger stroked across his brothers hand plate. It was a plate made of bronze-like metal. It was screwed directly onto the metacarpal knots and had the inscription: ‘WDG-2 P’. He had one similar. It just said ‘WDG-1 S’ instead.  
They had gotten them from the doctor a long time ago. It had been painful and it made them feel ‘marked’.  
They had guessed that ‘WDG’ was the doctor’s initials. The number must just have been a way to categorize them. And ‘S’ and ‘P’ was the first letters in their names. No doubt about that.  
They had been the doctor's ‘subjects’, for as long as they could remember. If they had a life before the lab, they couldn’t remember. It had always just been the three of them. Him, Papyrus and the doctor.  
Of course, they had tried to escape. But even when they had gotten past the force field they either couldn’t find the exit, the doors they tried were locked or the doctor had recaptured them before they could come far. And of course the punishments were always extremely painful. 

After a while, Papyrus had regained enough strength he slowly sat up, with Sans’ help of course.  
“Feeling better?” Sans asked, for which Papyrus answered with a small nod. 

\--------------

The doctor sat back in his chair and sipped his coffee. It had been a stressful week. The king had begun demanding daily reports about his work and had requested a visit of his lab. Gaster would now have to sweep the whole place clean and hide data and entries away, so the place would be ready for such a visit. He was used for things to go at his own pace. This was stressful he though as he began writing information down about the latest test.

Gaster’s track of thoughts was broken when he heard the doorbell. He decided to ignore it and continued writing but the ringing became quite persistent. He knew that nobody of importance would show up without giving him notice first. So who could it be? One thing he was sure of.. they weren’t gonna leave before he opened up. He made his way to the elevator and up to the upper level. He was almost at the door and the ringing hadn’t stopped until right before he reached for the door handle. *weird* he thought and opened the door. 

“Doctor W. D. Gaster, I presume?” Asked a young woman who was holding two big suitcases by her sides. 

Gaster just stood there in awe. There were nothing special about people coming to his doorstep, asking for him. It was just that this woman… was a human. 

What was a human doing here? He hadn’t heard any rumors about a human to have fallen. Even if it had fallen down, why would it be all the way over here in hotlands? And right at his doorstep, asking for him?  
It wasn’t a child, but still very young. It had a normal build and had red-ish/brown, shoulder-long hair which some of it was put up in a small ponytail. The attire was minimal. A green shirt with long sleeves and white pants with flat-shoes. It also had a red hoodie loosely strapped around her waist. It was looking at him with nut-brown eyes and a huge smile on it’s face. Waiting for a response. 

“Uhm.. yea.” He finally answered.

“Good morning, doctor! I’m ready to start!” The female answered, smile growing wider.

“Start? Ready to start, what?” He asked, confused.


	2. My recommendations.

The female chuckled.

“Well, working of course! At first, I thought I was a goner, when I fell down here. I mean, my camping equipment even didn’t fall down here with me. Plus it didn’t look like there were any wildlife or edible plants, so can you imagine how I must have looked like, when I discovered that there was a city down here?” The female rambled in a fast pace. Gaster could do nothing more than just stand there in confusion. 

“Oh, how rude of me! I should introduce myself. I’m Kateryn! But everybody calls me Kate! Can I come in?” She asked and pointed at the room behind him. Finally stopping rambling for a second. Gaster was still confused, but stepped aside for the human to enter his lab and home.  
She quickly grabbed her stuff and stepped inside as if she owned the place. Upon further inspection, the human also had a guitar strapped to her back. She quickly began talking again. 

“And where do you go, when you discover a city, that not only is far underground, but also is inhabited by strange creatures, who calls themselves ‘monsters’?” She said as she placed her stuff on the ground and turned around to face him for an answer. He didn’t get time to answer of course, before she answered for him. 

“The library of course! Even though it was spelled wrong, it was pretty cool!” As she took a moment to breathe, Gaster decided it was time for him to speak up. Or else he may never get the chance again. 

“What are you doing here, human?” He butted in. 

The human was quiet for a moment. Just starring at him, which made him slightly uncomfortable. Suddenly, the human pulled out a bunch of papers from one of the bags and offered them to him. 

“My recommendations.” She explained dryly at his confused face. 

“Recommendations? For what?” He asked as he took the papers and skimmed the text. He made out a few quotes. ‘Always brightens up the place’, ‘extremely useful and clever girl’, ‘obedient who takes her work to the next level’. 

“I’m applying as your assistant, of course!” The wide smile reappeared on her face as she put her hands behind her back and proudly puffed up her chest. 

Gasters jaw dropped. 

“Assistant? But I don’t need an assis..” He began protesting as she cut him off. 

“Oh. Neither did any of the other doctor or professors I’ve worked with in the past. But none of them regretted it, when they gave in and they found out how useful I was! And.. not to brag but, I’m a genius. Science is my passion! When I read about your research in the library I thought ‘if this is what he released to the public, who can wonder what kind of research he is currently working on, right now?’. So of course I knew that YOU had to be my next boss!” She claimed and folded her hands while looking admirable at him. 

This made a little more sense, of all the things the woman had said, in what short time they had talked. Gaster thought about what possibilities he had and what kind of use the human could be. His first thought was of course to just kill her and steal her soul for research. Yet.. she was looking at him with such innocence. Surely, he could take advantage of that. Maybe he didn’t have to kill her this instant. He just had to play along for a few minutes, until he could lock her up and then he would have a living human for testing. It was quite humorous actually. A human just willingly walked into his lab and practically begged for him, to capture and use her. He looked down at the papers again and acted as if he actually considered her request. 

“Oh! And of course, discretion is my guarantee. Nothing you say or do will ever leave this place. Besides helping in the lab, I can also cook, clean and do most chores. All I ask is to be included in your work, roof over my head and meals of course. And the most important..” She paused, which made the doctor look up from the papers. 

“To keep me hidden from the king and the rest of the monsters. I’m no idiot. I’ve both heard and read about the monsters history and how they are hunting for human souls. I know that you could just capture me right now and deliver me to the king. But my chances out there is just as good as they are here. I can be quite useful to your work, if you would let me. Again, it can just be a blind shot. So I’m making a deal with you right now. Cards on the table. If you keep me hidden I promise to make it worth your trouble.” 

The female had suddenly gotten serious. The sudden change in atmosphere was sending him chills down his spine. She knew. As she had told him, she wasn’t stupid. But still, she put her trust in him. Mostly because there wasn’t really other places where she could stay hidden. She didn’t even hide that she knew what really was going on. 

She literally put her life in his hands. 

He pondered for a moment. He had already decided that she wasn’t going anywhere. But whatever he was going to contact the king or if he was going to use her for some testing first. Anyway. He had to conceal her. If she found out about his true intentions, she would most likely run or fight back. If he just played along, she would just walk right into his trap like an obedient puppy. 

“Alright.. You can stay. For now. BUT. If I find out that you’re no use to me, I will hand you over to the king.” He said and became a little surprised at the hopeful smile and sparkling eyes that met him. 

“T..Thank you! You don’t know how much this means! I promise, you will not regret this!” She beamed and picked up her stuff. 

“So.. where am I gonna sleep?” 

\--------------

Sans and Papyrus was talking about a new game they had invented, when they heard steps down the hall. Nothing unusual. Except that, there were more than one set of footsteps. Longing for any kind of amusement, they had their eyes fixed on the two figures, making their way down the hallway.  
They had never seen anyone else besides each other and the doctor. So they were quite confused, when a creature that wasn’t a skeleton, strolled into the cell with the doctor at its side. Unsure about what to do, they waited.  
The doctor put down the barrier and the creature walked in confidently. It shortly looked around and then approached them. 

“Hi! I’m Kate! Nice to meet you.” It said and extended her hand. 

Confused about the strange gesture they simply just starred at the hand. Did it want something? An idea popped up in Sans’ mind and he quickly gave the creature the only thing he had. He’s rubiks cube! 

Both the doctor and the creature lifted their eyebrows, but the creature quickly became interested in the small toy and inspected all of its sides while smiling. Suddenly, without warning it began turning the small toy with high speed. In a matter of seconds, all of the little cubes were arranged in the correct places and the creature gave it back with a smile. 

“Oh! That brings memories of my childhood!” It said and turned its attention back to the doctor. 

“You’re gonna stay here for the time being. I don’t really have space any other place.” The doctor explained to Kate. 

“That’s okay! I don’t really need much space anyway!” She answered and waved him off. 

“I’ll go grab a bed then.” And with that, the doctor left. 

*Perfect. She walked right into the trap. Did she seriously think that I’m gonna let her work here? Hmm.. I wonder what kind of experiment I should use her for first.*


	3. Is there other things to do?

Kate were left with the two skeletons, who looked like deers caught in the headlights. They simply starred at her like she was some kind of alien. That didn’t seem to bother her as she approached them with a big smile. 

“Hi! It’s nice to meet you guys! So.. what’s your names?” She asked and put her hands in her pockets. 

Sans was the first to speak up.  
“My name is Sans and this is my brother, Papyrus.” 

“Sans and Papyrus. Great! I’m sure we’re gonna become great friends!” 

Friends? 

“I’m the doctor’s new assistant! I’m gonna stay here for some time so we’d better get to know each other!” She said and unstrapped the instrument from her back.  
The skeletons were both confused and curious. This creature was the doctor’s assistant. Then she had to be bad. But she wanted to be friends with them? The doctor didn’t care about them. All he could think about was hurting them. So this person must be seeking to do the same, right? 

“How about you tell me about yourself!” She said, as she sat down with guitar in hand and began to soundlessly, let her fingertips run over the strings. 

Tell her about themselves? Why would she want to know? If she was just gonna help the doctor, hurting them then why, did she care to get to know them? Though, they didn’t have anything better to do. 

“I’m Sans’ brother and I’m the taller one. My identification number is P2.” Papyrus explained.  
This left the female with a confused look. Papyrus didn’t know what to say. He thought he had explained very well. 

“Oh.. uhm.. great! So what things do you like? What is your favorite pastime? Favorite food?” She asked. 

Papyrus thought for a moment.  
“Well.. I like my brother. I summon bone attacks to pass the time and I guess I like food that makes me full?” 

“Good. Good. We’re making progress. And you, Sans?” She looked at the smaller skeleton.

“Uhm.. I like my brother too. I play with my rubiks cube and I like the usual food we’re getting.” 

There was a bit of an awkward silence for a moment.  
“Okay… except bone attacks and rubiks cubes.. what else do you do?” She said, desperately trying to tug some kind of conversation out of them. 

“We sit around? Sleep. Talk. Eat. Rest. And of course the doctor takes us, from time to time.” Sans explained.

“Takes?” The female asked. 

“Yes. Takes us to hurt us in the lab.” Papyrus said and swung his legs of the side of the bed, so he could sit next to his brother. 

“Hurt? Oh, you mean testing. Of course. But.. that’s all you do?” Kate said. Putting the instrument on the floor next to her. 

“Is there other things to do?” Papyrus asked, with a confused look on his face. 

Kate didn’t get to answer, as the doctor came back with a foldable bed under his arm. Kate rose to greet him and take the burden of his hands. She unfolded the bed, up against the opposite wall of the skeleton brothers and discovered that there already was a small blanket and a pillow inside the bed. 

“I’ll be busy the rest of the day. You stay here in the meantime.” The doctor said as he exited the room. 

“Okay! I’ll se ya tomorrow!” She chirped before he disappeared down the hall. 

“Okay. Now that I know about you guys I’m gonna tell a little about myself.” She sat down on her bed. 

“As you know, my name is Kate. I’m a human girl. I like music and science. My favorite foods is fish and cheesecake. I’ve written 5 books about science and 3 about biology. And I have worked as lab assistant for different people the last 10 years more or less.” 

A human! They had only rarely heard about human from the doctor. Never thought they actually were gonna see one. 

“What’s that?” Papurys asked and pointed at the instrument. 

“This?” Kate asked and held up the guitar.

“It’s a guitar! It’s an instrument! You play music with it.” She explained and played a nice little melody.  
Both Sans and Papyrus starred in awe. They had never heard music before and they looked like two little boys on Christmas eve. Their jaws dropped and their eyes sparkled. Kate could do nothing else but chuckle, which made her stop playing. 

“NoOoo! Keep playing! Do it more!” Papyrus begged, looking like a kicked puppy. 

“Hehe.. okay. How about.. THIS one!” She said and began playing a different melody.  
The skeleton brothers leaned up against each other and enjoyed the show. 

“It's okay, It's alright  
To play the fool has always been my plight  
In this tiny circus show, I'm the nameless pierrot 

As I try to balance in the center  
Of a ball as round and shiny as the moon…”

\--------

“….And the lying pierrot that I was has gone away.” She finished and looked up for a response. 

The skeleton brothers were smiling wide and Papyrus even clapped a little. 

“It was a little sad.” Sans remarked. 

“But it was beautiful!” Papyrus claimed. 

“Thank you. But you two act like you never heard music before.” She said as she rose and put the guitar down, next to her bed. 

“Well, that’s because we havn’t.” Sans said and tugged his legs up on the bed. 

“Seriously? How can you never have heard music? You’d have to have lived underground your whole life, to never have heard music. Perhaps you have been in the lab for too long. You also acted like, you’ve never greeted another person before, when I tried to shake your hand earlier.” 

The brothers shared a look, that Kate didn’t miss.

*Oh.. OH!* She thought. 

“You’ve… never been out of the lab?” She asked concerned. 

Both shook their heads. Kate shortly covered her mouth with her fingertips. Oh. *There! Kate! Keep your cool!*

“W..Well! When you meet someone new, you’re supposed to give a proper greeting! Here, I’ll teach you!” She stammered and walked over to the brothers. 

“First, you extend your hand and say a greeting. Like: Hi! Or Hello.” She extended her hand and Sans did the same. 

“Then, you grab the hand. Give it a light shake. State your name and sometimes tell how delighted you are to meet them: My name is Kate! Nice to meet you.” Sans grabbed and shook her hand.

“My name is Sans.. ehm.. nice to meet you too?” 

“Very good!” She praised and greeted Papyrus as well. 

*Dodged a bullet, there.* She thought. She wondered what they were gonna talk about next, when Papyrus chirped.

“So.. what’s outside the lab?” 

Kate froze. Sans looked at his brother for a second before looking back at Kate. Just as eager as Papyrus, to know. Kate sighted. 

“Well.. we’re underground right now. Upstairs is where the doctor lives. And right outside, is the Hotlands. There’s a lot of lava and platforms. If you go further there is Waterfall. It’s dark, wet, and cavernous. Further away, you’ll find Snowdin. There is snow literally everywhere! There’s also a cute little city with a lot of nice monsters. And at the end of the underground is the ruins. There’s not much to it. It’s abandoned long time ago. It’s also where I.. climbed down from the surface. If you go another way from the lab, you’ll find the Core and the castle, where the king lives. I haven’t been there since the king is on the lookout for humans. I don’t dare go there.” Kate walked back to her bed and sat down. 

“Why is the king after humans?” 

“Well.. Long ago, humans and monsters lived on the Surface together, but a war struck out between them and the humans' more impressive physicality, allowed them to win. They cast the monsters to the Underground and placed a Barrier around them so that they would be unable to leave. After this, humans and monsters lived in complete separation.” She rubbed her neck nervously.

“Asgore, the king, declared that all humans that would fall into the Underground must be killed. The Royal Guard, is tasked with watching out for humans, and capturing/killing them so that their soul can be brought to the king. Asgore infamously collects human souls to become strong enough to destroy the Barrier, to allow monsters to return to the Surface”

“So… we’re enemies?” Papyrus asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI6xlqNsklU


	4. Predestined to die

“N..no! I mean, yes. Kinda. I mean…” Kate trailed off. 

Her eyes trailed down the floor and folded her hands.

“The king wants me dead. The doctor is letting me stay so I can hide.” She spoke with a quiet voice. 

“But how can you know that you can trust him?” Papyrus asked with a skeptical expression at his face. 

“I can’t. But my chances here are better than outside.” 

\-----

The rest of the day they spent talking and getting to know each other. The doctor later showed up and asked her to not play her guitar anymore that day, as he had to finish his report in pace. He then served lunch and left, after refusing to let her help, like tree times. The food was the usual. Cheap microwave dinner and water in hard plastic cups.  
Kate was looking skeptical at it, but ate it anyway. She commented to the skeleton brothers, that she were a pretty, good cook and that she should try, to cook something for them someday. 

“Cooking? What’s that?” Papyrus asked. 

Kate sat the tray of food on floor beside her. 

“Cooking? Well.. you know. Food doesn’t just exist. It’s made from ingredients. The potatoes and carrots are vegetables, which grows in the dirt. They are then, peeled and cooked in a pot of water, until they are tender. The meat from animals, which is fried on a hot pan and the thing they are trying to pass for sauce is water, flour, butter and broth, etc.” She downed the last water and put the cup beside the tray. 

“Animals? Like, a living thing?” Papyrus held his hand to his face in horror. 

Kate looked at him with confusion. 

“Uhm.. yea? Where DID you think meat came from? Trees?” 

“I.. I’ve just never thought about it..” He looked down at his tray. There was still some food left, but he no longer had any appetite. He put the tray to the side. 

“I don’t wanna eat that anymore. I don’t want to hurt anything living.” Papyrus began playing with the edge of his johnny gown. 

Kate stood up and walked over to him. 

“Papyrus.. the meat we’re eating, comes from animals which were breed, for the sole purpose of being eaten. They were gonna die whatever you’ve chosen to eat it or not. That you refuse to hurt living things is one thing. Another one, is to eat what already were predestined to die. You have the choice to either eat that. Or it will end up in the trash. It will have died in vain.” 

Papyrus looked up at Kate with sadness in his eyes. He still didn’t want to let go of his principles, but he didn’t want anything to die in vain either.  
Slowly, he picked up the tray again and continued eating. Silently thanking the animal for it’s sacrifice. Sans had almost butted in to give Kate a piece of his mind. Almost. He didn’t like the way she had talked to him. But at the same time, he didn’t want his brother to eat even less, than he already did. So he kept quiet. 

 

After the meal, they all became quite bored. Kate wasn’t allowed to play the guitar anymore, but the skeleton brothers were still caught by this new ‘ music’ thing. 

“Too bad you can’t play your gatar anymore.” Papyrus pouted. 

“Guitar.” Kate corrected him. 

“And the doctor didn’t say anything about singing! We can still do that!” She beamed. 

“Still..” Sans said, pouting with his brother while absentminded playing with his rubiks cube. 

Kate thought for a moment. 

“Well… if you want music.. you can just make some! Almost everything can be an instrument if you use your imagination!” She looked around and grabbed the hard plastic cup, by her tray. 

“Like this!” She put the cup down, bottoms up and began clapping, hitting the bottom of the cup and doing all kinds of things with it, which the brothers couldn’t quite follow. But it made a pretty catchy beat.  
“I got my ticket for the long way round  
Two bottles of whiskey for the way  
And I sure would like some sweet company  
And I'm leaving tomorrow, what do you say  
When I'm gone  
When I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone  
You're gonna miss me by my hair  
You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone..”

\-----

“..You're gonna miss me by my walk  
You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh  
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone” She slammed the cup down one last time and smiled at the boys.  
“Wowie! I’ve never thought you could do that kind of thing with just a cup!” Papyrus had picked up his own cup, but couldn’t quite imitate the art of the cup song.  
“See? You can do all kinds of things with a little imagination!”  
Their conversation were interrupted, as the doctor entered the cell to collect the food trays.  
“Oh hi, doc! Do you NOW need my hel..” Kate chirped.  
“No!” Gaster interrupted and collected the trays. It must have been the fourth time today she had offered to help and he just wanted to finish his work in peace!  
“Oh, okay. Just call me if you need any h..”  
“I’ll be fine.” He reassured and hurriedly exited the room. *Safe* He thought as he was out of the room. Still. He feared dinner. 

\----- 

“You have an awful lot of baggage. What on earth do you even keep in those huge bags?” Sans pointed at the two big suitcases. He was surprised that she could lift even one of them.  
“Oh! Just the most necessary!”  
“Like what?”  
“Books. Mostly. I've also got some clothes.. and notes from my personal research. And some few personal items. I had to get rid of a lot of those though.”  
“Why?” He asked.  
“Well.. things got pretty serious once i traveled down here. The underground is dangerous. There were a lot of monsters attacking me on my way here. I had to get rid of most of my stuff so I could travel faster. Things that only had sentimental value was left behind. Like my old tutu and ballerina shoes.” She was looking kinda sad but her smile never seemed to fade. It was kinda freaky.  
“Aw, that sucks. Sorry about that.”  
She sighted.  
“So... What's a tutu? And ballerina shoes?” Papyrus asked.  
“Oh! They are clothes! For a special dance called ballet! I've always been a great dancer and those specific clothes was from one of my first performances. I've grown out of them long ago but I really wanted to keep them as memory. Most of my stuff must have been stolen from where I left them but I’ve hid those specific items well! So.. maybe I can pick them up when I go back.”  
“You are lucky to have belongings.” Papyrus said from over by the suitcases. He was crouched down and looking intensely at them, as if he could see through them if he tried hard enough.  
Kate chukled as she walked over and placed a hand on Papyrus’ back. She reached down and opened one of the bags for him. It opened with a gentle click sound.  
It was mostly books. But it had a lot of cool stuff that Papyrus had never seen before. He badly wanted to pick up and inspect all of these new things, but he stopped himself. Last time he had touched stuff without permission, the doctor had become really mad at him. He pulled his hand away.  
Kate put a hand on his shoulder.

“You can touch, you know. Just be careful not to break anything.”  
Papyrus beamed at that and nodded wildly.  
“Oh yes! I promise!” He said and picked up a little glass container. 

 

Which he dropped.

It fell to the floor and broke into tiny little pieces. Papyrus looked like he was about to cry.  
“I.. I’m so sorry!! I didn’t mean to do that! And I just promised..” He began scraping the pieces together in a little pile, as if he could fix it that way.  
The hand on his shoulder began gently patting his back.  
“Don’t worry about that. It was just an empty test tube. These things happen. Really. It’s okay.”  
Kate took his hands away from the shards.  
“But don’t touch that. You could hurt yourself” She said and cleaned up the shards herself. 

Both Papyrus and Sans got to play with some of her stuff. Papyrus was extra careful though and only picked up things that couldn’t break. The rest of the day went pretty much with them just talking and Kate showing off her stuff. Later, the doctor shut the lights and went home. 

 

Tomorrow he was gonna begin the testing on the human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmSbXsFE3l8


	5. We’re on the same level.

Gaster was walking down the hall with a clipboard in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He took a sip and read his notes through, to make sure that he hadn’t missed anything. He shortly used his blue attack to make his mug levitate so he could put down the force field to the cell.   
He picked up his mug and took another quick sip before looking up from his papers, just to find a wide smile greeting him. He almost choked on it. Kate was already ready to start. And by ready, it means that she was wearing a lab coat and had her own clipboard in her tiny hands. She was almost standing on her toes in anticipation while looking at him with stars in her eyes.

"Good morning doctor! Ready to do science?" She beamed and placed a pencil behind her ear.   
He didn't answer right away. He gave her the elevator look and wondered where she had gotten that old rag she called a lab coat. That thing looked like it was over 20 years old. 

"What... are you wearing?" The doctor asked.

"This awesome piece of art? Well this is my trusty lab coat! I got it hand down by the man who showed me the wonders of science!" She pulled the fabric out to show, which also revealed a lot of permanent stains and mending.

"It's old." He didn't remark it. It was a simple fact. 

"Don't question good quality! This old dog still have about 50 more years in 'im! Look! It's double-layer! Fancy, huh?" She winked at him. What was she doing? Did she think he was gonna be impressed? 

He was about to tell her, not to wear that thing for the testing, when she just walked past him. He turned on his heel and saw that she already had made her way down the hall to one of the first doors. He had to think quickly. He almost forgot to make his mug levitate, as he, hurriedly had to put up the force field before perusing her. 

Sans and Papyrus were left stunned. She just walked past him! They feared for her safety as they saw the angry doctor quickly walking down the hall and disappearing around the corner. 

 

Gaster walked into his office to find Kate, already snooping in his stuff. She was looking through some papers with who knows, kind of information, was written on them. He quickly walked over and grabbed her wrist.   
She looked upon him with surprise and confusion. She was still holding a piece of paper in her other hand, which she put down as he pulled her over to a medical table and ordered her to sit on. 

"We're beginning right away? You're not gonna introduce me to what project we're doing? Not gonna share the notes of what data we're collecting today? If you and I are gonna work together we seriously need to communicate better than this." She rambled as he picked up the tray full of empty needles for blood samples. 

This was going to be so much easier than normal as she actually had veins! He placed them beside the human and his notes on the desk by her other side. She didn't waste a second and peeked at the document without touching. He let it pass as she finally were quiet for a second. 

"Your subjects are.. facinating. They're prime examples for lots of mental disorders. Anxeity, Denial, Stockholm syndrome and of course some mild depression."   
Gaster tried to ignore her. Nothing she said was any news to him. He already knew all of it. He put on his rubber gloves and sterilized the skin on the inside of her arm. 

"How long have you been working as the royal scientist? You don't look THAT old.. well.. It's pretty hard telling age just by the skelleton." She chuckled. She didn't seem to notice (or care?) that he didn't pay her any attention. After finding the vein, he picked up the needle. 

"I appoligise for looking in your research without permission, before. You seemed really upset about it. I just thought.. I mean after our agreement yesterday I didn't think it would be a problem and AaaaAAAa.. aa..."

And the needle was in. 

"Aaa..And as i was saying: You should use the Dellian method." 

Now he was lost. 

"Dellian? Sorry, what were we talking about?" He asked. Confused as to how the coversation had come from and where it was going. 

"Your notes! I saw that you had used the Minosoouse method for an experiment.. and failed. I just think that you would get better results with the Dellian method instead." She said and careful rubbed her arm after he had taped a cottonball to it.   
He frowned as he picked up the scalpel for the next test. He remembered the experiment she talked about. It had been a totalt disaster and he had already given up on it but... He never thoguht of using THIS method for such type of experiment. It was an pretty uniqe thought. He didn't know if it was gonna work, but now he was curios. 

He went over to his desk and searched for the files. It didn't take long before he had collected it all and went though the information. He tried to make some head calculations, but this was pretty hardcore math. 

He sat down and began scribbing some numbers down but he just couldn't focus! He needed coffee. He picked up his trusty mug and took a sip. Which he sip out again. It was lurkwarm. He needed strong hot black coffee right now. He had gotten to exited over finishing the experiment that he just couldn't focus without. He hurridly exited the room to go and get a new cup. He had made a whole pot this morning in the small kicthen down the hall. It had the most nessersary but he mostly just used the coffeemaker. He had his own kicthen upstairs in his home.

As he walked back to his office he suddenly realised that he had forgotten the human! He began running and to his relief found her in the office... in his chair writing in HIS DOCUMENTS!!! He went over and slammed down the mug so it's content almost spilled. Kate gave a surprised yelp and jumped in her seat. She then gave him a reproachful look, as if HE had done something wrong. 

He opened his mouth to yell a her, when he noticed exatcly WHAT she had written. It was the math problem. She had solved it! He picked up the paper and looked through the equation. It was correct! And she had done it in such a short time. She hadn't lied. She WERE a genius! 

Gaster looked down at Kate who had her arms crossed while smirking as if she had just read his mind.   
He rolled his eyes and pushed her out of the chair. 

"First off, this is MY chair." He said, sitting down. Almost just to prove the point. 

"Secondly, what made you think of using the Dellian method for THIS kind of problem?" 

"Well.. i've always been great at seeing things from a different angle. It was something that all my other bosses really liked about me. If they got stuck they could ask me to look at the problem and give them advice or ideas." Kate had begun playing with her hair. Seemed like she couldn't be still or be quiet without something to do. 

"Interesting. Well.. what would say about..." He began digging in the mountain of paper until he found the document he needed. "..THIS. I've been working on it for weeks but no matter what I do, I can't make it work!" He took a sip of his coffee. The problem had annoyed him for a while now and he badly neeeded the caffine. He didn't know HOW she would try to solve it, but he didn't count on her to..

"Done." 

He almost choked. Surely she must have been joking. Right? 

"What?" He said and took the paper from her. He couldn't see anything different. Hah! He knew it! There's no way she could have..

"You had a simple typo in the very first line." She pointed at a number.

"You probably meant to write 9, but the pen must have been low on ink so you accidently wrote 3, instead. Which messed up the entire equation." She explained with a voice as dry as a middleschool teacher.   
W. D. Gaster were stunned. AND impressed. She was smart and kinda helpful actually. He squinted his eyesockets.

"Are you up for a REAL challenge?" 

She cracked her knuckles.

"I was BORN ready!"

 

Sans and Papyrus grew more and more anxious as hours passed. They had been gone for more that the double of the average time they normally would be 'taken away'. They finally heard the familiar footsteps and turned their attention to the cell entrance. Down the hall they heard.. laughter? And they must have heard wrong because it sounded like the doctor were.. chuckling? Must have been the wind. 

Kate and Gaster casually entered the cell as they kept talking. 

"And then I said: If you seriously believe that, then you must be the square root of 2. Because right now you are 'irrational'!" Kate said and began laughing at her own joke. Gaster simply lifted his hand to cover his mouth, as to hide a smile. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, then." The doctor said, bidding goodbye.

"See ya, doc!" Kate gave a small wave before walking over to her bed to graceless slump down upon. 

"Hey, guys!" Kate greeted the skeleton brothers, who just silently starred at her. Stunned over the casual way she had talked to the doctor. 

"How did you.. I've spent, who knows how many days, trying to get through to him.. and you just.." Papyrus stuttered. He just couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.

"Well.. what can I say? We’re on the same level." Kate said and remembered how the doctor had totally forgotten about the tests he wanted to run with her. Instead, they had been talking and talking for hours while taking notes and discussing theories. At some point, the doc had realized how much time had passed and how he still needed to write his daily report. 

"Why don't you start on that report and I'll make myself useful in the meantime?" She offered.   
Gaster thought about it shortly. He really needed to finish the report. And fast. He really didn't want to waste time running down the hall to lock her up right now. So he agreed. 

"Fine! But stay in this room! And don't bother me!" He said and swung his chair around so he faced the table. 

"Oki-doki, boss!" 

The doc were nervous at first. He feared that he would have to look over his shoulder every other minute, to make sure she still were there. But she had begun humming a relaxing melody while.. doing whatever she were doing and it didn't take that much time to finish the report, as he had thought.

When finished, he turned around and nearly fell off his chair. For a second, he could not recognize his office. It was.. clean? Well the floors weren’t swept and the trashcan were still full, but everything were in its place. Even the papers on his desk were neatly stacked. How she had done that, without his noticing, he had no idea.   
Kate just stood and looked really smug. She knew she had done a good job. 

It weren't long before the two of them walked down the hall to the cell, together.


	6. I'm not going to kill!

Kate awoke by a nightmare in the middle of the night. She heaved for breath until she slowly collected her mind. Tears streaked down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.” She whispered as she curled up. Trying to banish the demons from her nightmares.

At first she didn’t recognized her surroundings but the pieces all fell into place as she saw the skeleton brothers sound asleep. She remembered her mission and calmed down.

She were sitting in the dark for a few minutes. Just thinking. Her eyes fell on the brothers again and she smiled lazy.  
Sans were laying sprawled out on his bed with all limbs in each direction. He was drooling a bit and his blanket were only covering his stomach. Papyrus was laying on his side while clutching a stuffed animal made from pillow filling. It was adorable.  
She rose from her bed and pulled the covers over Sans before going back to sleep again.

\--------

A week had passed since Kate had arrived at the lab. The doctor had been cautious at the beginning, but had slowly let her help more and more with bigger and more difficult tasks. As it turned out, he had needed the help more than he had thought.

Today she were allowed to participate in the testing with the skeleton brothers. The testing were about magic so there was a lot she didn't understand. She had studied about it at the local library but getting used to a completely different element was never easy. That didn't stop her though.  
The skeleton brothers took turns trying to make different magical blasts and attacks. The computer then registered and stored the data for them to read. Her job were to take notes. Simple task really but she were just happy to be included in the work. She were learning so much!

 

Sans did poorly. He had only 1 HP and only did 1 DAMAGE. No matter how much he tried, he could only do slight damage. Kate didn't like the idea of him only having 1 HP. It would only take one hit to end the poor skeleton.

Papyrus did an excellent job. Not that the doctor told him, but the young one were pretty strong. He had 286 HP and did 5 DAMAGE. If he kept training he could become even stronger. He’s attacks were magical bones (like his brother) that he sent flying by waving his hands.

 

"Alright, initial testing is complete, all magic readings are consistent with established baseline. High-intensity magic emitters have been successfully tethered to the subject." The doctor said and Kate hurriedly scribbled the words down.

"Does that mean I did a good job?" Papyrus asked down from the testing arena. Kate really wanted to tell him that he indeed, did a good job. But she knew by now that she should just be quiet while testing. She would tell him later though.

The doctor continued. "Now to determine the level of control and effectiveness of the blast. Once the specimen is deceased, the capsule prototype will be used to store the SOUL."

Papyrus perked at this.

"What's that mean?" He began nervously pulling at the edge, of his johnny gown.

"You will follow directions." The doctor answered.

"That sounds like I’m supposed to hurt something!"

"The specimen will die, yes."

"I don't want to do that!!!"

"Noted."

 

The doctors hand began glowing light blue as he levitated a dog-carrier, with an unknown species of animal, down unto the floor of the arena.

"Stand by... " He said and waited for the computer to register the new living being.

"Carrier is in place, vital signs are normal. Subject 2, destroy the carrier and its contents." Gaster commanded.

Papyrus inched closer to the carrier and tried to look inside. He began frowning as he saw something moving inside in the dark.

"I there something alive in there?" Papyrus asked in a blaming matter and pointed aggressively at the carrier.

"Yes."

"I'm not going to attack that! It might get hurt!!" He protested. The animal whined pitifully from inside the carrier.

"That is the point." The doctor grew annoyed and Kate could already see where thing were going.

"That's awful! I'm not going to do that!" Papyrus yelled in anger and disgust.

"Subject 2, you will follow directions."

"NO! i'm not going to kill anything!!"

"I will not repeat myself." The doctor said sternly. He was at the point of being angry now.

"NO! I REFUSE!!!"

 

He snapped.

 

"If you will not follow directions, Subject 2.."  
Gasters hand glowed light blue as he levitated Sans above the ground and summoned bone attacks all around the poor skeleton.  
"...there will be consequences." He threathened.

"NO!!! Leave him alone!!!" Papyrus begged with tears in his eyes.

The bones creeped closer.

"All it will take is one touch."

And closer.

"You will follow directions."

They stopped and everyone held their breath.

 

"I.. I WON'T!"

 

The doctor squinted his eye sockets. Sans tried to make himself smaller as the bones closed in on him. He closed his eye sockets in fear as they were almost touching his face now.  
"I WON'T!!! I'M NOT GOING TO DO IT!! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME, I'M NOT GOING TO KILL ANYTHING!!!"

Almost.

"I'M NOT, I'M NOT, I'M NOT!!! I WON'T! I Won't... I'm... I.. I...."

Almost.

\-------  
Later they were all three back at the cell. Sans and Papyrus sitting close to each other on the floor, resting.  
Papyrus rested his forehead on his knees while holding his skull in his hands.

"I never want to kill anyone.." Papyrus silently sobbed.

Sans wrapped his arms around his brother in a hug.

"Never ever, never ever.. ever..." He continued.

"I know. I know." Sans comforted.

Kate looked up from her book. She felt bad, but what could she do?

"H.. Hey papi.. cheer up! I'll sing a song for you, if you want." She offered the crying skeleton.  
"And YOU!" Papyrus said aggressively, standing up.

"You did absolutely NOTHING to stop it! Sans almost died!" He blamed while pointing a finger at her.

"Well your brother would never have been in danger, if you had just followed the doctor’s directions!" She put down the book and swung her legs off the bed.

"I don't want to kill anything!!! How could you just stand there and do nothing!"

"I don't have any authority over the doctor, whatsoever! Besides, how were we supposed to get the data without the specimen dying?" She stood up.

"Oh, your precious data! What is so great about it? That poor thing had done nothing wrong!"

"Remember what I said about predestined to die? That animal had the two opportunities: die by your hands or being used for another, even more painful experiment, which would kill it anyway!"

"I still don't want to kill anything! Why are you two even doing this? I thought we were friends! Why do you help him hurt us? Why can't you be good?" He screamed. Huffing and puffing from the heated argument.

Kate fell silent.  
She sat down again and looked sadly at her hands.

"I've... asked the doctor the same thing before.." Papyrus whispered.  
"I asked him why he kept hurt us.. and he said something about committing a level of violence that made him like this. And that people needed him to be strong..." Tears began running down his cheekbones.  
"And that I wouldn't understand... and even after I said that he could be good if he tried.. and I offered to help him he said.. *sniff* that I was even more stupid that he thought..." He began sobbing in his hands. Sans stood up to go to his brother, but Kate were already by his side.

She took his skull in her hands.

"Papyrus? Papyrus listen to me. You are a very bright young skeleton. Don't let anyone tell you anything different!" She said with such confidence that Papyrus broke down again. God, had he needed to hear those words. She embraced the crying skeleton until he ran out of tears. Which took some time. She pushed herself from him to look him in the eye.

"You... may think that that the doctor is evil. That he just hurts you for the purpose, of being mean. But.. what he meant was, that those data we collect, helps us understand and solve problems for others. The things we learn is helping a lot, of monsters. Like when the doctor.. 'hurt' you, the other day, he were examining your biology. That information can be used to save a life someday... do you understand where I’m getting at?" She asked.

Papyrus sniffed and nodded. He didn't like it, but he understood.

She put a hand on his arm.

"You are part of something bigger."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by this comic: http://zarla.deviantart.com/art/Today-s-experiment-was-a-576966456?q=favby%3Anannamuss%2F55216261&qo=36
> 
> And mention of THIS senario: http://zarla.deviantart.com/art/Just-gonna-bandsaw-your-head-off-there-we-go-576450790?q=favby%3Anannamuss%2F55216261&qo=39


	7. Dr. Alphys.

This was the most important task Kate had gotten so far. The doctor had completely put his trust in her and let her do it unsupervised. She watched as the dark fluid dripped down in the glass container. She had created, the perfect mix and were very pleased with the results. She couldn't wait for the doctor to have it!

It was not complete though. In two smaller containers, she added the final ingredient. It was done! She carefully brought them back to the office, were she put them down on the table, he was working at. He immediately took one of them without looking away from his papers. Kate tried to look busy with work while looking at him in the corner of her eye. She held her breath as he spoke.

"Thanks for the coffee.." He casually said and went over to his desk with the mug.

Kate did a silent little victory dance when he was not looking. How he had picked his own mug without looking, she had no idea. He always used the same one. His had a black and white logo which said 'black mesa' right below. Her own said 'Apature science', which were in orange font. She had figured they must have been from some kinds of firms or something like it. She shrugged and took a sip.

She looked over her shoulder at the doctor as he as well took one.

 

And immediately spit it out.

 

He turned and looked at her with a face filled with disgust. "What have you been putting in this?" He asked and pointed at his precious mug as if she had poisoned it.

"Uhm..sugar?" She explained and took another sip of her own.

"And why would you do that?" He put the mug down and faced her again while whipping his mouth.

"I... thought it would sweeten your day?" She tried her best to smile innocent. It was hard though when doctor grumpy were starring her down. She quickly went over and fetched  
his mug with her fingertips. As if he would biteif, she groped it.

"I'll... go make you another one."

She was almost at the door when the doctor spoke up.

“Oh, by the way miss.. ..?” Gaster stopped. Realizing he didn’t know her last name.

“Anderson.” She helpfully mentioned.

“Anderson.” He confirmed.

“I’m only going to be here for a couple of hours. You’ll have to stay in the cell for the rest of the day.” He informed as he wrote something down.

“You’re going out, today?” Kate shifted the mug from one hand to the other.

“Yes.”

“With who?”

Gaster turned to face her.

“I didn’t say I was going with anyone.” He said and took off his glasses.

“But you ARE going with someone.” She pushed.

“What gave you that idea?” He began polishing his glasses with a handkerchief.

“You didn’t deny it.”

Shoot.

“Yes, I am meeting someone.” He put on his glasses and looked up at that smug face of hers.

“It’s work related!” He didn’t like her, getting those petty little ideas, in her head.

“Riiight… So.. Who IS she?” Kate grinned a little wider and shifted her weight from one foot to another.

“I didn’t say..never mind. Yes, it IS a female, but were simply going to look for useful human stuff at the garbage dump!” He didn’t know why he was explaining. He didn’t have any ulterior motives!

Kates face was, filled with disgust.

“So you’re going to rummage through human garbage with your..female friend? GOD you’re a terrible dater!” She looked at the celling, as if she had lost all hope for him.

“It is NOT a date! Dr. Alphys and I regularly search together for useful components.” Gaster blushed. From anger of course.

“Ah! Alphys? What an interesting name. Maybe I should meet this, Dr. Alphys. I think we have a lot in common.” She looked thoughtful.

“Absolutely NOT!” He denied.

“What? Why? It could be fun!” She chirped.

“Did you forget that you are a human? That I’M taking a risk hiding you? That you are wanted in the entire undergrounds? That ASGORE want’s to take you? That you know about my secret research?” He counted on his fingers as he spoke.

“Yeah, but. If she’s your FRIEND she won’t tell. And you KNOW about my discretion policy.” She stepped a little closer to him.

“She is.. NOT..my friend. I simply know her and we do stuff sometimes like watching her weird human series. Andwork together on some few projects. And keep a few secrets here and there. As I said: I simply know her. Nothing more.”

Kate didn’t buy it.

“What you just said is exactly what friends DO. I’m not gonna push further with the subject of meeting her, but there is no reason for you, to lie to yourself about your feelings. It’s okay for you to have a friend. Don’t push those close to you away because of..this!” She gestured to the lab.

 

Gaster was silent for a moment.

 

“I don’t think you are in any position to have anything to say in this matter.” He answered dryly.

Kate looked at the floor.

“Right. Sorry ‘bout that.”

Gaster sighted and rubbed his face.

“Never mind. Just..” He reached out for his mug, just to realize it was not on his desk.

Kate saw and realized she was still holding his mug.

“Right! Your coffee! Sorry! I’ll go remake it right now.”

“Nevermind. Just give it here.” He reached out and gently took it from her.

He then took a sip and placed it on it’s usual spot on his desk.

“I’m..gonna go, empty the recycle bin.” She muttered and left the room. Trying to suppress her smile.

Gaster turned in his chair and shook his head. "Sweeten my day, huh? What a childish thing to say." He went on with his paperwork.

\------------

Later that day, Kate were standing in the cell and bid the doctor goodbye, before she turning around and was greeted with a huge smile, only a few inches from her face.

"Greetings Kate! You're back early!" Papyrus beamed at her.

Kate couldn't help but chuckle.

"The doctor had some stuff to do outdoors. I'm spending the rest of the day here with you two." She casually went over to her bags and began rummaging through them.

"Wowie! A whole day with you! This is going to be so much fun!" Papyrus turned around to face his brother.

"Did you hear that Sans? Kate is going to spend the WHOLE day with us!" He gave off a vake sound of bones rattling in excitement.

"Hm? Oh, yeah... that's cool, bro." Sans mumbled over from his bed. He was sitting and starring at the ceiling, as if that was way more interesting than the two people he shared room with.

As Papyrus was busy being exited, Kate saw how Sans tried to hide his irritation. He almost succeeded.

She tried to figure out why the smaller skeleton would be irritated or moody in any way. Well for once, their situation. But that was nothing they never had to deal with, so maybe that wasn't the case. Secondly, the doctor had taken the rubiks cube from him. Something about a test-period was over now or something like that. But even then, it didn't kind of make sense that he would be directly upset about it. In the end she realized she didn't know a lot about the short skeleton. She mainly knew that he were smarter than he gave away and that he had a more laid back attitude than his brother.

On a wimp, she went over and sat beside him. He looked like he really tried to hide his confusion. And suspicion.

"'Sup!" She greeted.

At first, Sans just starred back at her, but the awkward silence became to unbearable in the end.

"H.. Hi." He greeted back, looking at his feet which were tucked up on the bed.

"Are you going to play with us again, today?" She asked and innocently tilted her head.

"U-huh." He agreed shortly, still not making eye contact.

This was harder than she thought. Then, a plan popped up in her head.

"I've got an idea! How about we let YOU decide what to do, today?"

Sans finally looked at her. In confusion, though.

"What?" He asked.

"Yeah! Great idea! We let Sans choose!" His brother said and went over to them.

Sans were taken aback. He hadn't expected something like this. He totally forgot to being suspicious about Kate's request. He stumbled trough his thoughts, trying to think of something to do.

"Well..."


	8. Unnecessary

 

"I want to make my brother happy." Sans said looking her straight in the eye.  He was serious.

 

"That doesn't count! You have to pick something YOU want to do!" Papyrus jumped up and down.

Sans threw his hands up in the air.

"But it's really all I want!" He protested.

 

Papyrus was about to tell him to pick something else when Kate butted in.

"Hey, it's fine! I think it can make do." She said calming and faced Sans. "So the question is HOW do you plan to make him happy?"

Sans frowned. He didn't know, so he shrugged.

"I don't know. I just.."

"But you already DO make me happy!" His brother told. "I'm happy just to have you and you're nice and sweet and cool and a good brother and..."

 

Kate giggled.

 

"There's a lot of ways to make people happy. Making them laugh is one of the easiest ways."

"Sooo.. I have to tickle him?" The smaller skeleton tilted his skull.

"Not necessarily! There is more ways to make people laugh. Like, acting silly or goffy or tell a joke or something." Kate pulled out her ponytail, just to remake it.

"What's a joke?" Papyrus asked.

"A joke? Uhm... A joke is.. when you say something, with the intention of making others laugh. I guess. There's lots of different types of jokes. 'Knock knock' jokes, quiz jokes, puns.. Oh! I could teach you that! A pun! That's easy. A pun is a play on words! Liiiike.. uhm... I.. I'm reading a book about antigravity. It's impossible to put down!"

Kate threw her hands out to the sides and waited for a response... which never came.

 

"Okay? It must be a good book." Papyrus said awkwardly.

 

"No no! I mean.. it's a joke! It's not serious! It was a play on the words 'antigravity' and 'put down'. You get it? Because.. antigravity and gravity is opposite and.. put down? no? I'm a geek! Not a comedian." She sighted as if she had given up.

"Oh!" Sans gently hit his upwards turned palm with the bottom of a fist, as if he had gotten an idea.

"You mean that the book can't physically be put down because of.. antigravity! I think I understand! Somwhat..?"

"Oh! Good! Now, try to make one yourself!" Kate clapped her tiny hands, either out of excitement or relief that she hadn't totally failed with her poor attempt to be funny.

"Me? Oh, okay. Uhm.." Sans scratched his chin for a moment before he came up with something.

 

"Uhm.. Papyrus?" He asked shyly.

 

"Yes brother?"

"I.. I'm glad I have you.. without you I would feel... BONEly?" Sans cringed at his awful attempt.

"I think you meant to say LONEly, brother." Papyrus corrected him.

"No, Papyrus. I think he rhymed 'lone' with 'bone' and replaced it. And it's funny because you two are skeletons! You have bones!" Kate said and pointed at his own arm.

"Oh! .... heh." Payrus gave a weak laugh, which just made Sans smile from ear to ear. Even though he had none.

 

Those two were just too adorable!

 

Later, when they had gotten bored of telling bad jokes, they decided to play tag. Kate, having the advantage of being in good shape, didn't go all out on the young skeletons. Not that they noticed.

Sans sat down on the bed from exhaustion and were quickly joined by Kate.

"Hey... *huff* are you having fun?" She asked as she heaved for breath, just like him.

He nodded with a smile upon his face. Papyrus ran up to them and asked them to go for yet another round.

"Heh.. Sorry Papi. We don't have as much stamina as you. I think we're just gonna take a break." Kate kindly refused. She were pretty fit but the stamina of a young boy were no kidding matter. Besides, she hadn't done much physical exercise since..

 

She looked upon Sans were smiling content while observing his brother. Somehow he was not tense around her anymore. She didn't think she completely had gained his trust, but it was a start.

 

* * *

 

 

Gaster had just returned from the bathroom, where he carefully had washed his hands. If anything from the garbage dump came in contact with any of the stuff in the facility, without being sterilized, who knows what kind of germs would linger.

He needed help with carrying some stuff so he decided to go and fetch Miss Anderson for assistance. He walked up to the barrier and were pretty choked of the sight that met him.

 

All three of them standing in the middle of the room. Subject 1 and 2 were starring intensely at Miss Andersons naked skin! He had caught her in the act of pulling up her shirt to flash her stomach for the test subjects.

 

"What.. in the underground.. are you doing?" He asked as he let the handprint-scanner, scan his hand and let the barrier disappear.

Kate looked up shamelessly, not bothering covering up herself.

"Oh, hi Doc! I was giving a lecture about human biology! We've just covered the subject of intestines and body fluids." She giggled when Papyrus poked her stomach with a bony finger.

 

Gaster were quiet for a moment.

 

"But.. why?" He then asked.

Kate giggled again and finally let the shirt fall.

"Well I guess it all started when I wanted to take a shower and told them not to look. They then asked 'why?' and I said 'it's because I'm female' and then THEY said 'what's a female?' and I said 'you know, genders? The difference between being a boy and a girl' and they just stood there so I realized they hadn't yet to discover the subject of gender so I began explaining the difference, but I kind of lost them when mentioning genitalia and... to make a long story short. One answer led to another question and so on and now we're here!" She flashed the doctor a huge, innocent grin, while he just stood there totally baffled.

 

"But, Kate. You actually didn't finish what you said about 'genitalia' because you had to explain what flesh were, first!" Papyrus pointed out.

"Oh yea! I almost forgot! So you see, as a woman I have.." She didn't get to finish her sentence, as the doctor literally dragged her out of the room.

"Okay, I'll see you two later!" She bid goodbye and let the doctor drag her to the office.

 

When they finally stopped, he put his hands on his hips and starred her down.

"Did you need help with something?" She asked innocently and smiled up at him. Their height differences were pretty contrast.

 

He sighed deeply.

 

"Two things!" He held up two fingers. "First off.." He retracted one finger. "..Do not fill their heads with unnecessarities."

"They are not unnecessary! I would never turn down a question from a pupil, willing to learn!" She held a hand over her heart as if the words were some sort of codex.

"Secondly.." He held up two fingers, again. "... What in the entire undergrounds did you tell subject 2? He have suddenly stopped complaining, most of the times, while testing and almost don't ask any questions anymore!"

Kates smile didn't fade for even a second, but Gaster could still fell the change of atmosphere.

"I told him what he needed to know. What he _wanted_ to know. Nothing more or less." She took a step closer. "Why? You are asking as if it were a bad thing."

Gaster got chills down his spine. Somehow this woman.. this _girl_ sounded pretty sinister for a moment there.

 

_There, Gaster! Get it together!_ He though for himself.

 

"I'm not saying it's BAD. I'm saying that it's unnecessary to explain them anything. Lying isn't needed either. It doesn't matter what they think, as long as they follow orders." He put his hands in his pockets.

"If it doesn't matter then why are you against it?" She smirked. He didn't.

"Just do as I tell you." He ordered and went to pick up a box. She quietly followed his example and picked one up herself. As they walked down the corridor, Gaster realized that the strange feeling hadn't left. He looked over his shoulder to discover that Miss Anderson were observing him.

 

Not looking. Observing.

 

_What IS it, with that woman?_ He though as they reached their destination. This was gonna be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thanks for reading! I would LOVE to hear about what you guys think of the story so far! Constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms!  
> Thanks in advance! And again.. THANK YOU FOR READING! <3


	9. Determination.

"Wow... that is a serious machine!" Kate starred in awe at the blueprints that Gaster had presented her.

 

"I know. I couldn't really get to make it before now, because I didn't have the help to build it." He brushed some dust from the blueprint, indicating that it must have been a project that he wanted to build for some time now.

 

"But, now you got ME!" Kate clapped her tiny hand. "So.. what do you call it?"

 

Gaster picked up a pen and began scribbling a name at the top of the blueprint. Kate looked over his shoulder and read out loud.

 

"Deter..mination... ex..traction.... m.. machine? **Determination** extraction? What would you want with THAT?" She asked. " **Determination** is just a feeling. CAN you even extract a feeling?" She scratched her head while thinking.

 

"Actually. We believe that ' **determination** ' is what makes human souls so unique. The theory is that, if we can create artificial souls with ' **determination** ' or maybe insert ' **determination** ' in a monster soul, that we can use those to break the barrier. Then we wouldn't have to wait for humans to fall down to the undergrounds." Gaster put his hands in his pockets and looked over the old blueprint. He figured he would have to make some small adjustments to it so it would be up to date.

 

"So what? Monsters doesn't have ' **determination** '?" She asked, looking over her shoulder.

 

"No, not in the way that humans do. Monsters CAN gain ' **determination'** , but only under extreme circumstances. I have never seen it and to be honest, I believe it's just a fairy tale. No known monster have ever gained ' **determination** '. Not even the king." He sighted. He had read about ' **determination** ' in ancient books and had also seen it the last time a human fell. He didn't get to run any tests with it though, as the king and his queen had treated the child as their own.

 

 "So why even build this thing, if monsters don't even have **determination**? Kinda defeats the purpose. What do you extract the **determination** from then?" Kate had picked up the blueprint to find the answer to her question.

 

 

"Human souls."

 

 

Kate froze. She looked up at the doctor, who looked at her with a neutral face.

 

"Oh.." Was the most intelligent answer she could muster.

 

"Don't freak out. It's not going to kill you." He reached over her shoulder and grabbed the blueprint.

 

"Oh.. heh heh.. good to know. I got nervous for a moment there." She scratched her neck nervously while following the doctor over to the boxes they had carried earlier this week.

 

They were all full of metal. _For the machine_ , Kate thought.

 

"We're going to build it down here?" She asked as she inspected a metal plate.

 

"Correct. We're starting immediately. First we update the blueprint and later we can begin the construction." Gaster walked out of the room to receive some tools.

 

Kate made a move to follow him when she got a sudden headache. She rubbed her head for a moment until it disappeared, just as quick as it had appeared. She looked around to see if Gaster had noticed her absence. When that appeared to not be the case, she quickly exited the room to follow. They've got work to do.

 

\---

 

It took some days to make the preparations for the construction of the ' **determination** extractor'. They had to clear out one of the biggest rooms and remove some of the floor. This machine were going to be bigger than what Kate originally had imagined, but it didn't really matter. She was just glad she could help and at the same time stay hidden.

 

Right now they were fiddling around with some small testing, to see what would work and what wouldn't. After one of Kates experiments succeeded, she started humming a catchy tone, which quickly turned into full-blown song.

 

"This was a triumph!  
I'm making a note here:  
Huge success!  
  
It's hard to overstate  
my satisfaction."

 

She picked up her mug and looked at the strange logo.

 

"Aperture Science?  
We do what we must  
because we can  
For the good of all of us.  
Except the ones who are dead.  
  
But there's no sense crying  
over every mistake.  
You just keep on trying  
'til you run out of cake.  
And the science gets done.  
And you make a neat gun  
for the people who are  
still alive."

 

Gaster turned around and looked at her, like she was weird. Well, more weird than usual.

 

What a strange choice of words. Somehow she made them sound so... personal.

 

"I'm not even angry...  
I'm being so sincere right now.  
Even though you broke my heart,  
and killed me..."

 

Kate didn't look at Gaster, but she still made him feel uncomfortable. He WAS planning on killing her. Someday.

 

"And tore me to pieces."

 

He cringed.

 

"And threw every piece into a fire."

 

And cringed again.

 

 

He almost decided to make her stop, but whenever he would do that, it would just end up in an argument. He would be forced to explain exactly why he wanted her to stop and she would argue back, why that was a stupid reason and explain, why his argument in the end, was invalid. It was easier to just let her finish. And besides... he kind of liked her singing sometimes. He couldn't exactly bring a radio down here. It wouldn't work. So he was torn between stopping her and letting her continue.

 

"As they burned it hurt because  
I was so happy for you!  
  
Now, these points of data  
make a beautiful line.  
And we're out of beta.  
We're releasing on time!  
So I'm GLaD I got burned!  
Think of all the things we learned!  
for the people who are  
still alive.  
  
Go ahead and leave me...  
I think I'd prefer to stay inside...  
Maybe you'll find someone else  
to help you.  
Maybe Black Mesa?  
That was a joke. Ha Ha. Fat Chance!"  


Gaster looked at his own mug and shrugged. The song got more and more confusing.

  
"Anyway this cake is great!  
It's so delicious and moist!  
  
Look at me: still talking  
when there's science to do!  
When I look out there,  
it makes me glad I'm not you.  
  
I've experiments to run.  
There is research to be done.  
On the people who are  
still alive.  
And believe me I am  
still alive.  
I'm doing science and I'm  
still alive.  
I feel fantastic and I'm  
still alive.  
While you're dying I'll be  
still alive.  
And when you're dead I will be  
still alive  
  
Still alive.  
  
Still alive."

 

Gaster felt eyes on his back, but when he turned around, Miss Anderson was in full science mode while stirring some test-tubes. She didn't look like she was giving him, even a single thought.

 

Except for the eerie feeling, it was nice. Them doing science. Miss Anderson singing from time to time while working. She cooked their food. Well, warmed it up more or less, as he just ate microwave dinner when he was down here. Miss Anderson had been skeptic of his eating that stuff in the start, but quickly calmed down when he told her he ate normal food both morning and evening. Sometimes they ate lunch together. It was nice.

 

It was just so easy to be around her. She had this carefree attitude, while being extremely serious in her work. He would almost admit that she was just as smart as himself. No. HE was definitely the smartest, he decided. Then he mentally hit himself in the head, for thinking so childish.

_But what about the future?_ A grim thought crept it's way in his mind. At some point, it would have to stop. Someday, she would die. He would kill her. He would use her for experiments and then kill her and then experiment on her SOUL and then...

 

He had to stop himself. The train of thought had seemed endless and was pulling him down a spiral, he didn't want to go. But he couldn't seem to stop. He thought about how she would cry, beg, sob, scream. Scream. Stop. Scream. Scream. Stop! Scream. SCREAM! SCREAM!

 

"SIR!" Miss Anderson, yelled.

 

Gaster jumped. Miss Anderson stood by his side and looked worried.

 

"Are you okay, doc? I had to call you like, seven times!"

 

He took a deep breath, to calm himself and nodded.

 

"Yeah.. yeah I'm fine. What do you need?" He took of his glasses and began polishing them, with a handkerchief.

 

Kate looked at him suspiciously for a moment, before answering.

 

"I'm done with the test... you said you would have another ready for me, when I was done."

 

He looked at his own, abandoned work.

 

"Oh.. yes of course.. just a moment, let me just.." He began fiddling.

 

Suddenly. A hand rested on top of his. He looked up and met Miss Andersons big brown eyes.

 

"Doc? Are you sure you are okay? You look a little shaken." Her voice was filled with worry and kindness. Kindness she shouldn't show him. Again, he saw pictures of her screaming. Screaming in pain, in fear. Fearing HIM.

 

He pulled his hand away.

 

"Yeah... Yeah I'm... fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI
> 
> Thanks for reading! I you liked it then please leave a comment! I would looove to hear your thoughts about it! Thanks in advance! <3


	10. Sugar

 

Time went by fast. They had used the rest of the month on planning and construction. They weren't even nearly done, but it began to take form. It hadn't been easy. They would often get bruises and burns, while working and the long nights, they spent on paperwork, seemed endless.

One night, Gaster fell asleep at his desk, just to wake up the next day, with a blanket draped over his shoulders. He put on his glasses, which someone had taken off and put on the table. He looked over at Miss Andersons workspace, to find her sleeping in her own chair.

He rubbed his eye sockets and went over to wake her up. He wanted coffee.

"Hey." He said, rubbing her back.

She hummed in protest, but slowly woke up. She spoke up, half asleep.

"Hm? Morning, doc. How's the back?" She spoke slowly as she rubbed her tired eyes.

"My back? Why would you ask me that?" He felt his back, for abnormalities but everything seemed in place.

"Huh?" She asked.

"My back." He said.

"What about it?" She had finally woken up.

"You asked, how my back was." He straightened his lab coat, which were wrinkled after wearing it while sleeping.

"I did?" She asked, frowning her eyebrows.

"Yes."

She took a moment to think and then gently hit her own forehead.

"Oh! That! Sorry, I meant another doc, I've been working with. He had back problems. It sort of just became a habit to ask about his health. He could be pretty stubborn and not go to the hospital, if something was off. So I kind of took on the responsibility to look after him. He was a good man." She smiled for herself and turned in her chair and looked at the mess, from the night before. She then looked back at the doctor.

"Oh yeah! You wanted something, right?"

"Coffee."

"Right! I'll go make it right now." She exited the room while yawning.

 _So she does this for everyone._ Gaster felt.. disappointed? No! Why would he? He didn't care if she treated everyone like she treated him! After all she was just his assistant! I mean, test subject. Even though he hadn't used her for much testing. Yet. But he would! Someday. He was just using her right now, that's all! He needed her to build his machine. That's all... right?

"Coffee's ready!" Kate excitedly entered the room, holding two steaming mugs. She went over to him and gave him the coffee. She turned on her heel, when he spoke up.

"Did you..?" He hesitated.

She turned to look at him. "Hm?"

"Put.. anything in it?" He pointed at his mug.

"Nnnnno? Do you want anything?" She raised an eyebrow and placed her own mug on her desk.

"....."

"....sugar." He said.

Kate simply smiled. She went over and carefully took the mug from his hands.

"To sweeten your day." She stated.

 

* * *

 

 

"Emit the blast at my command." Gaster ordered.

Papyrus kept his stands wide, as Kate had taught him. Ready for action.

"Now." The doctor said.

Papyrus focused his magic and sent a powerful bone-attack flying. It hit the training-dummy with full force, which were destroyed in the blast. Papyrus huffed and puffed. It had been difficult, but he felt that he had improved his skills.

"Okay, now Miss Anderson. Please check the results, so we can move on." He picked up his clipboard and got ready to write.

"On it, doc!" She skipped down the stairs of the testing area and went over to the tired skeleton. After shortly checking his stats, she smiled.

"The test was a success! Subject two's DAMAGE has gone up by 1!" She reported.

While the doctor hurridly scribbled down the information, Kate patted his back gently.

"Well done, Papi! You did an amazing job!" She quietly praised him.

"Thank you." He smiled tiredly.

She took his hand and lead him towards the stairs. Sans quietly watched them, as Paurys tripped up the stairs. Kate held on tight, as to not let him fall. He fell anyway...

 

when his arm came off.

 

Kate held the skeleton arm in her and just starred at it for a while. Not quite registering what had just happened.

 

"OMG!HOLYFUCKINGCRAP! Your arm came off!" Kate freaked out and held the arm as far out from herself as she could. She had stopped breathing, when the doctor casually went over by her side.

"Relax! Limp-detachment for a skeleton is completely normal. See!" Gaster simply picked the arm out of her hand and put it back on Papyrus's stump. It connected with a soft 'clank'.

"There." Both the doctor and Papyrus seemed total calm about it, which made Kate blush.

"Oh.. right. Monster-thing. Hehe... that scared me for a second." She grabbed her shirt right over her heart.

Gaster simply rolled his eyes, while Papyrus put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Kate! I got pretty scared too, first time my arm came off!" He pointed at Sans. "My brother, too!" Sans nodded to her, which made her heart a little lighter.

"Okay! Next up is testing IQ." Gaster said while exiting the room. Kate took the skeleton brothers and followed quietly.

 

Spread out on the table were serveral... toys. As Kate would describe them. There were the infamous rubiks cube, a game of simon, some quizzes, magic rings and a puzzle box.

The doctor began instructing the skeletons in the different puzzles, while Kate could take a break, reading and from time to time, write down results of the different test.

 

Sans did excellent. He was very intelligent and had almost no trouble with most of the puzzles. Papyrus on the other hand tried his best, but had a lots of problems with solving them.

He kept trying to open the puzzle box in almost any way possible. The 'magic' rings got bent by him, trying to pull them apart with force and he kept insisting, that the so called 'Simon' inside the round and colorful plastic box, were trying to trick him into pushing the wrong buttons.

All in all his test were a failure. As it had been all the other times they had tried, the doctor informed her. Papyrus were currently trying to solve the rubiks cube, but he kept messing with it as if he tried to make the puzzle harder, rather than solving it.

In the end, the doctor called it off. The they had run out of time and he still had some testing to do with subject 1.

The doctor escorted Subject 2 back to the cell while Kate kept an eye on Subject 1. And with keeping an eye on, I mean that she was reading, while Sans just looked around.

"Hey.. Kate?" Sans suddenly asked.

"Yes?" She didn't look up from the book.

"Are we a secret? My brother and I."

Kate looked up and smirked.

"You ARE very smart. Yes, you are. But don't tell the doctor, that I told you or he will scold me." She looked back down at her book while Sans smirked for himself.

The doctor soon returned. He didn't ask for her help so she just casually hung back. In the start, it was just simple examination of the 'pupils' with a small flashlight. But when the doctor led him over to the restraining table, she knew they were gonna have a bad time.

She quietly got out of her chair and exited the room. She should stay. She should support him. But her heart could not take it. She cared to much for the skeletons, to watch them in pain. She purposly avoided eye contact. She just couldn't.

She began strolling down the halls without a specific destination. Her mind began wandering. Why was she here? Well she knew HOW she got here, but she still felt that something was off. She searched her memory for the thoughts she had, when she first decided to seek out the doctor.

As she tried to remember, her head suddenly hurt really bad! It felt like it was going to explode! She fell to her knees as she took her head in her hands. The pain were so bad that she couldn't utter a single sound. She couldn't hear anything because her ears were ringing and the world began to spin. She totally collapsed at the floor as the pain went on and on.

 

* * *

 

 

She didn't know how long she had been lying there. It could have been hours or minutes. The pain was gone, but she still felt dissy. She slowly got up on her hands and knees. Afterwards, she crawled over to the wall and used it as support so she could get on her feet.

After a few failed attempts, she was finally leaning against the wall, trying to catch her breath.

 

When she finally was okay, she looked around to make sure no one was her. Kate was about to move on, when she heard an explosion coming from the operation-lab.

 

_Doctor?_

 

Kate ran as fast as she could towards the room. Her steps echoed trough the, now quiet lab. She finally reached the door opening and stopped to observe the situation. The operation-lab were trashed. There had been an explosion over by the restraining table were. Or.. had been. Her eyes finally fell upon the two skeletons.

 

"Oh god, no." She whispered under her breath.


	11. It was an accident

 

"Doc! What happened?" Kate kneeled by the doctors side.  

 

He was to busy picking up the smaller skeleton, to answer her. Sans were unconscious. And for good reason, judging by the fist-sized hole in his skull!  

 

Gaster ran with the small skeleton to another room and Kate followed suit. She faintly heard Papyrus calling from down the halls, asking about what had happened. She didn't plan on answering him. Sans' life came first.  

 

The doctor placed him on a operation table and ordered Kate to bring some tools. She hurried over to the cabinet, and grabbed the stuff. She quickly put them on the table beside the doctor. She didn't realize she was crying, before she saw the tears land on said table. The doctor went to work. Kate had no idea how moster-skeleton anatomy worked and she wasn't going to ask questions now. She just did as told and handed Gaster the right tools when ordered.  

 

It took nearly an hour before they were done.  

 

"Okay, subject 1 is stabilized." Gaster whiped his forehead and removed his gloves. 

 

When Kate looked upon the small skeleton, she couldn't see any difference at all. All she could do, was trusting that the doctor knew what he was doing.  

They both worked together to bring him over to some huge, strange glass container. It was filled with gooey liquid. After attaching some slim tubes, they dumped him down into the goo. 

 

Both of the scientists sighted heavily.  

 

Gaster sat in a nearby chair while Kate leaned her back against the wall, just to slide down and sit on the floor. Gaster leaned back and let his head fall backwards. He took off his glasses and closed his eyes. Kate took her head in her hands. 

They just sat there for nearly 20 minutes. Resting.  

 

"It was an accident." Gaster said, when he finally spoke up.  

 

Kate lifted her head an looked at him.  

 

"I accidently grabbed the wrong container. The mixed chemicals had an explosive reaction." Gaster whipped his face with his hand and put his glasses back on.  

 

Kate were silent. There was nothing to say. She was sure that he already knew everything she could come up with. 'You should have been more careful', 'why was that container there in the first place?', 'how could you make such a mistake?'. 

 

She just looked at him with tired eyes. Then she rested her head on her knees and finally spoke up.  

 

"What are we gonna tell Papyrus?"  

 

* * *

 

 

Papyrus were pacing back and forth in the cell. He was so worried.  

He head heard a huge bang from what he assumed were where Kate, the doctor and his brother, must have been.  

When he called, he got no answer. It had been quiet ever since. He had tried to sit down, but couldn't sit still. So he had just begun pacing.  

 

Finally he heard several sets of footsteps coming his way. He stopped and looked down the hall. Kate and the doctor were both wearing weird expressions and he grew even more worried.  

 

Kate walked up to the barrier, while Gaster stood a little further away.  

 

"H..Hey Papi. Uhm. Sans he.." She tried to speak but were cut off by Papyrus.  

 

"Is he okay?" Papyrus'es eyes were wide with worry. It almost tore her apart. She took a deep breath. 

 

"Papyrus. There have been an accident. And your brother got hurt. He's stable... but... we're actually not sure if he's gonna make it or not." As she spoke, Papyrus were tearing up. He began sobbing into his hands and Kate gestured hurriedly for Gaster, to put down the barrier.  

 

She went into the cell and embraced the crying skeleton.  

 

"We'll do everything we can, to save him. I promise." She wasn't sure though. Papyrus seemed inconsolable as he cried into her shoulder. She looked behind her at the doctor, who obviously tried not to show any emotion, in front of the small skeleton. Could they really save Sans? He only had 1 HP and it seemed like a miracle that the explosion hadn't killed him on the spot. Gaster was obviously a great doctor who were very intelligent. She just wished she could have stayed just as calm as him.  

 

* * *

 

 

Papyrus seemed depressed without his brother. Kate had tried spending more time with him, but he wouldn't smile and laugh like before. Hours went on. Then days. No progress in Sans' healing. He didn't seem to regain any HP no matter how much time passed. Before they knew, over a week had passed. Eventually he came somewhat around. He wasn't happy, but he began acting more like himself again.  

 

Papyrus still had to go through, all of the testing. Even without his brother. Kate had convinced the doctor to wait with any physical experiments until Sans was better, so Papyrus could take some time to calm down. So instead of what was planned, they were now sitting with the IQ test-toys again. Papyrus were determined to please the doctor, with his puzzle skills and eagerly tried his best, in every challenge.  

He had gotten somewhat better. But not nearly average. He was trying to solve the rubiks cube, when the doctor finally called it off.  

"I don't think were going to get any progress. Were done for now." He said and rose from his chair.  

"But I.." Papyrus tried to insist, but was cut off. 

"Now! Subject 2." 

Papyrus hung his head and rose from his chair. A moment later, the doctor escorted him to his cell. 

Gaster sighted heavily when he returned.  

"Yet, another failure." He sat down beside Kate and picked up his mug, which apparently had been filled in that short time, he had left the room.  

"He just have other talents, than a big mind. He's pretty strong, as an example." Kate said, before sipping her coffee.   

"Maybe, but I had expected better results, by now. I've taught them so much, but apparently it's only subject 1 who have some kind intelligent potential." He drummed his fingers on the table, thoughtful.  

"You taught them?" Kate had to admit, that she had a hard time, imagining Gaster teach Sans and Papyrus basic knowledge. It just didn't fit, what that way he acted towards them.  

"Yes."  

"So they've been here for some time... I've actually been meaning to ask you... Are Sans and Papyrus.. your clones?"  

 

There was silence between them for a minute.  

 

"They are." He then confirmed. "How did you find out?"  

Kate scratched her head thoughtful. 

"Well... I've kind of had a suspicion, ever since I got here. At first, I thought they maybe were your children. They have a lot of you, in them. Sans have the potential of your intelligence and Papyrus have both your strength and kindness."  

Gaster frowned.  

"Kindness?"  

 

"Oh! I almost forgot! Here!" She handed him the result of Papurys'es latest IQ test. "Even though the results aren’t that impressive, I actually believe that he's quite smart. He's maybe just thinking in another way, than we does."  

 

Gaster shook his head. 

"I don't belive so. Subject 2 is just curious. If had any talent, then I would have noticed by now." He looked at the clipboard as he rose from his seat. "Failure. Failure. Failure. If only enthusiasm equaled adeptness, you would be less of a disappointment, subject 2."  He said to himself.  

Looking through the collection of toys, he noticed something were missing.  

"Where's my rubiks cube?" He looked at Kate, who just shrugged. 

Great, first the disappointing results and now, he had to go and scold a certain test subject.  

\------------  

 

Papyrus turned the sides of the small toys in his hands with big delight. He had just finished, what he meant was a great accomplisment, when he heard a voice right outside the cell. 

 

"Subject 2." The doctor said. 

 

Papyrus jolted. He'd been caught in the act. He quickly got on his feet. 

 

"D..don't be mad! Don't be mad, I, I just.." He stuttered. 

 

"How did you get that without my noticing?" The doctor asked, referring to the rubiks cube.  

 

"I really liked.. I.. I wanted to practice! So, so I can show you how great I am at puzzles." Payrus stumbled over his words. If only the doctor could see what he was capable of. "I'm.. I'm really good a puzzles.."  

 

"Subject 2." The doctor cut off. 

 

"I.. I am! I really am! See! Look!" The skeleton lifted the toy, for Gaster to see. "See! It's all X's! And.. And to solve it, you have to make it all O's.. It.." 

 

"Subject 2.." The doctor lifted his hand. "Give me the cube."  

 

Papyrus held the cube close.  

"I.. I think it's really clever. I don't think that anyone could come up with a puzzle like this. I think it's really good."  

 

The doctor finally snapped. He used his magic to levitate the smaller skeleton over to the barrier.  

 

"Give me the cube." He calm, but sternly, ordered.  

 

Papyrus hung his head, as he finally gave in and placed the cube in the doctors hand.  

 

"You are never to take anything back to your cell again, especially without informing me. Or the consequences will be dire. Do you understand?" He scolded.  

 

"..I'm sorry.." The smaller skeleton said, with quivering voice. 

 

"….. Don't do it again." Gaster ordered, before leaving. 

 

"When will my brother come back?" Papyrus asked, before the doctor could leave. "I.. I wanted to show him my puzzle." 

 

The doctor didn't turn around, as he spoke.  

"Subject 1 is healing poorly. He has yet to regain consciousness." He explained, dryly.  

 

"Oh..." Papyrus began tearing up. "I hope he comes back soon." The tears turned into sobbing and the smaller skeleton cried into his hands.  

 

The doctor turned and looked at him for a moment. 

 

"If your behave, I may return the cube later." He said, as he walked away. 

 

Papyrus immediately stopped crying and looked up, still with tears in his eyes. 

 

"Really? You mean it?" Thank you!!"  

 

"…. never do this again." The doctor simply said as he disappeared down the hall.  

* * *

 

He entered the office seconds later, to find Miss Anderson sitting in her chair, reading.  

 

He sat down himself for a moment, before he spoke up. 

 

"...."  

 

He looked at Kate.  

 

"I know, you saw it."  

 

"What are you talking about?" She asked, never looking up from her book.  

 

"You were watching me and subject 2, just now." Leaning back in his seat, he sighted deeply. 

 

"Me? Spying? Well, I would never... ever.." She began, as she was cut off. 

 

"You're holding the book, upside down." He pointed out. 

 

Kate blushed deeply as she stubbornly turned the book in her hands. She looked at the rubiks cube, before picking it up.  

 

"X's to O's.. I was right. He's smart, in another way then you and I. It IS pretty clever." She put it back, before picking up her mug.  

 

"If by clever, you mean stupid, then yes." He shortly looked at the toy, before returning to his coffee and cigarette.  

 

"I had to go through hella lot of puzzles, to get here in the first place. He would totally fit in, up there." She smiled motherly before sipping her coffee. 

 

"And what, are you trying to imply, with that statement?" He had taken off his glasses and looked skeptical at her.  

 

"....that... Papi would be a great puzzle-maker? No? You don't think so?" She lifted her arms and made a scale motion.  

 

Gaster blinked a couple of times. "Well, he have no business up there, so there is no point in thinking about that kind of nonsense." He put on his glasses and turned in his chair so he now faced his desk, with his back to Kate.  

 

Kate shrugged, left the room and went back to work.  

 

Gaster slummed in his chair and rested his skull in his hand.  

 

"...God, what am I doing?".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by this comic: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Don-t-count-on-it-578317117
> 
> I really hope you guys like it so far! Tell me in the comments what you think and thanks for reading!! <3


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